Per capital consumption of tap water in Cyprus is below the EU average, figures from the European Parliament show. They were released to coincide with a vote on Tuesday on rules to further improve the quality of and access to drinking water for all people and reduce plastic waste from water bottles.
Most people in the EU have good access to high quality drinking water. According to a report by the European Environment Agency (2016), more than 98.5% of tests carried out on drinking water samples between 2011 and 2013, met EU standards.
The EU Drinking Water Directive sets minimum quality standards for water intended for human consumption (drinking, cooking, other domestic purposes), in order to protect us from contamination.
Parliament will vote on an update of the rules to increase consumer confidence and encourage the drinking of tap water.
The Right2Water citizens’ Initiative gathered more than 1.8 million signatures, which shows how strongly Europeans feel about drinking water. Public consultation has shown they feel insecure about the quality of tap water when travelling in other EU countries, although compliance rates are high. They also wish to receive more up-to-date information on the quality of drinking water.
MEPs will debate the new rules on Monday 22 October and vote on them the following day. The rules will then have to be negotiated with the Council and the Commission before they can enter into force.
Edited by Bouli Hadjioannou
